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INTERNATIONAL BUREAU Op AMERICAN REPUBLICS 

JOHN BARRETT, DIRECTOR 
FRANCISCO J. YANES. SECRETARY 



MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATIONS IN LATIN AMERICA 



RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL 



(Reprint of an article from the Monthly Bulletin of the International 
Bureau of American Republics, January, 1 909) 




WASHINGTON, D. C. 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1909 



INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF AMERICAN REPUBLICS 



'/ 



JOHN BARRETT, DIRECTOR 
FRANCISCO J. YANES, SECRETARY 



MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATIONS IN LATIN AMERICA 



RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL 



(Reprint of an article from the Monthly Bulletin of the International 
Bureau of American Republics, January, 1 909) 




WASHINGTON, D. C. 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1909 



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RIO DE JANEIRO. 

IN" natural beauty few cities of the world can compare favorably 
with Rio. It is Naples and Stamboul, as seen from the sea, with 
hundreds of the choicest bits of the Morea and the islands of the 
iEgean and the grandeur of the Norwegian fjords rolled into 
one. 

Fifteen years ago it might have been said with truth that in this 
nature's chef d'ceuvre the handiwork of man appeared to no great 
advantage. Rio, in area one of the largest cities of the world, was 
a more or less disjointed group of small villages thrust in here and 
there between the mountains on the west of the great bay. It ap- 
peared broken and disconnected, a congeries of settlements, stretching 
around the sweep of the more or less inaccessible shore, with incur- 
sions here and there between the hills or up their slopes. On a nearer 
view the impression was more favorable. There were even then many 
beautiful buildings and parks. There were even places where one 
might say : " Here man has wrought worthy of his surroundings." 
But as a whole the city was disappointing. Perhaps most of all be- 
cause it lacked unity and because nature pressed too heavily upon the 
observer and demanded too much. 

All of this is changing, and most of it is already changed. Fifteen 
years has worked a marvel in the city, as great as a tale from the 
" Thousand and One Nights." Rio de Janeiro has been made over. 
It has been joined together. It is unrecognizable, but it is becoming 
beautiful. No such work in a city has ever been done before, except 
perhaps when Haussmann cleft Paris through and through into a 
half dozen great avenues, or when Peter built his capital on the Neva. 

Many projects for the rebuilding or improvement of Brazil's capital 
were conceived prior to 1893, but the plan which finally took shape 
followed the installation of President Rodrigues Alves in 1892. He 
appointed as secretary of public works Senator Lattro Muller, an 
engineer, and earnest advocate of the rebuilding plan. It was de- 
cided to begin the work, and for this purpose two loans were contracted, 
one a foreign loan of $40,000,000, the other a domestic loan by the 
municipality of $20,000,000. With these funds the work was begun in 
virtue of the decree of September 18, 1903. 
30 

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32 INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS. 

In brief the plan was : 

First, the construction of a quay following in general the shore 
line 3,500 meters long (2^ miles) ; 

Second, the construction of a large avenue parallel with the quay 
and of the same length ; 

Third, the rectification and prolongation to the sea of the canal 
known as Mangue, with an avenue on either side nearly 2 miles (3,000 
meters) in length and 131 feet in breadth, lit by electricity; 

Fourth, elevation of the railroad bed and construction of an avenue 
following the line of Francisco Eugenio street up to the Quinta do 
Boa Vista, the residence of the late Emperor Dom Pedro; 

Fifth, enlargement of the city water supply taking in all the near- 
by sources ; 




THE WATER FRONT, RIO DE JANEIRO. 

Showing a portion of the Avenida Beira-Mar, a 6-mile boulevard skirting the hay. It is not an 
exaggeration to say that this avenue is unsurpassed in picturesque beauty and variety by any 
driveway of equal length in tbe world. On the occasion of the visit of ex-President General 
Julio Roca, of Argentina, in 1907, it was gorgeously illuminated throughout its entire length, 
as a feature in the scheme of entertainment in honor of that distinguished guest. 

Sixth, revision of sewerage system ; 

Seventh, construction of an avenue, 1^ miles (1,996 meters) in 
length and 108 feet (33 meters) broad. This is the Avenida Central; 

Eighth, cutting down certain hills in the city ; 

Ninth, widening the streets crossing the Avenida Central. 

These plans were almost immediately enlarged through the sug- 
gestion of the incoming mayor of the city, Dr. Francisco Passos, who 
was selected by President Rodrigues Alves as an aid to Doctor 
Mttller. The new improvements contemplated the widening of 
many other streets, the construction of a bay-side drive, 4i miles long 
and 115 feet wide (7,000 meters and 35 meters), repaving the streets 
with asphalt, and other works for embellishing the city. 



MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION IN LATIN-AMEKICAN CAPITALS. 33 

The improvement of the shore line was a work of the greatest mag- 
nitude. It involved the building of a stone quay over 2 miles in 
length along the east front of the city. The quay is built in many 
places at a considerable distance out from the old shore and incloses 
several islands and small bays. In front the harbor is dredged to a 
depth of 10 meters (32.8 feet) to a distance out, and following the 
line of the quay for 250 meters (820 feet). This forms a broad ship 
channel along the face of the quay. Back from the quay the land has 
been filled in to a depth of from 12 to 40 feet and an avenue 100 meters 
in width (328 feet) has been constructed following the line of the new 
shore. 

This avenue is apportioned in three strips — a paved thoroughfare of 
40 meters (131 feet) lined with rows of trees, then a strip of 35 meters 
for business houses and offices, then 25 meters for railway tracks. 
The whole quay is finished with the most modern hoisting, loading 
and unloading machinery and devices, and there are two electric plants 
for furnishing power and light. 

Under the contract of September, 1903, the quay work which was 
begun in March, 1904, must be completed by July 1, 1910. 

More striking perhaps than even the quay works has been the con- 
struction of the great Avenida Central, running in a straight line 
from sea to sea and serving as the principal outlet from the congested 
business section. The avenue is 1,996 meters long (6,500 feet) and 33 
meters wide (108 feet). Over 600 buildings were demolished in pre- 
paring the way, 3,000 laborers working night and day. Trees are 
planted along each side and in the center. There are also flower beds 
in the center. 

Some of the most beautiful and imposing buildings in Rio have 
been erected on the Avenida Central. 

Another great avenue opened is the Avenida Beira Mar, the bay- 
side avenue. This is nearly 4^ miles in length (7,000 meters). It 
begins where the western end of the Avenida Central meets the 
bay and, following the curves of the city front, stretches away to 
Botafogo Bay, a beautiful cove inclosed in a green frame of high 
hills. The work on the Mangue Canal and the building of the two 
bordering avenues, each 131 feet wide, is progressing rapidly. When 
completed the canal will be nearly 2 miles in length, stone faced, and 
crossed by numerous artistic bridges. 

A marked feature in the building of the new streets in Rio de 
Janeiro has been the use of the rounded corner, the building line 
being marked on a curve of considerable radius. This adds a 
beauty and dignity to the architecture of the buildings and a grace 
to the appearance of the streets, in particular as seen on the Avenida 
Central, that is lacking in the cities of the United States. 



34 



INTERNATIONAL BTJKEAU OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS. 



In addition to the new avenues a number of streets in Rio de 
Janeiro have been improved so as to be almost unrecognizable to one 




AVENIDA CENTRAL— BUILDING OP THE JORNAL DO COMMERCIO, RIO DE JANEIRO. 

Many large and handsome office buildings are eloquent in attesting the general business pros- 
perity, notably that of the Jornal do Commercio, which appears under construction in the 
illustration. The building has since been completed. This daily was established in 1824, 
under the name of the "Spectator," but in 1827 the name was changed to its present title. 
The Jornal do Commercio is the leading newspaper of Brazil. The greatest statesmen and 
politicians of the Empire and Republic have been, at different times, among its contributors. 

who may have known the city a dozen or more years ago. Among 
these is the Uruguayana, 17 meters wide; the Assemblea, the same 



MUNICIPAL OKGANIZATION IN LATIN-AMEEICAN CAPITALS. 35 

width, giving a fine view of the bay ; Carioca street, Visconde do Rio 
Branco, Floriano, 24 meters wide; Trezede Maio, Passos Avenida 
and Inhauma, 30 meters wide. These are all fine streets, with many 
handsome buildings and paved with asphalt. 

Among the neAv buildings are the Monroe Palace, covering 12,000 
square meters, one of the finest buildings on the continent; the new 
Municipal Theater, marble front, bronze decorated, with a fine dome ; 
the (Sao Paulo and Rio Grande) Railway Building, gothic, ap- 
pearing like a great middle-age castle; the Botanical Garden Rail- 
way Company Building; the Naval Club, new classic style; the 
Treasury Building, with its beautiful white and rose marble columns; 




NEW BUILDINGS ON AVENIDA CENTRAL, RIO DE JANEIRO. 

These structures are distinguished by their various styles of architecture. They are all new and 
thoroughly modern, averaging about 60 feet in height, although many of them are 125, 160, 
and 190 feet high. 

the Jornal do Commercio Building, the Exhibition Palace, National 
Library, marble and steel, and numbers of others. 

Many cities of the world have beautiful streets and beautiful build- 
ings, but Rio alone has the Jardini Botanico. It is the central point 
of interest for tourists. What Vesuvius is to Naples, the Grand Canal 
to Venice, or the Golden Horn to Constantinople, is the Botanical 
Garden to Rio de Janeiro. Here is displayed all the luxurient wealth 
of tropical flora in its most attractive aspect. Its magnificent avenue, 
a half mile in length, of royal palms, is worth a trip to Rio to see. 
Admission to the garden is free, and a line of trolley cars pass the 
main entrance. 



36 INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS. 

The city of Rio de Janeiro and its environs constitute the Federal 
District of the United States of Brazil. The municipal organiza- 
tion of the district is controlled by the National Government, but 
the right of the 900,000 inhabitants to a voice in the management 
of local affairs is safeguarded in two ways: 

(1) The district is represented in the Congress of Brazil by 3 
senators elected for nine years and by 10 deputies elected for three 
years. 

(2) A city council of 10 intendentes or members, elected by direct 
suffrage for a term of two years. The council meets in ordinary 
session twice a year. 




A BAMBOO GROVE, BOTANICAL GARDEN, RIO DE JANEIRO. 

The spacious grounds cover an area of nearly 2,000 acres situated on the border of the large 
suburban lake, Rodrigo Freitas, which is near the seacoast and separated therefrom by 
only a narrow strip of sand. Trolley cars from Rio pass the main entrance. This world- 
famed institution is supported by the general government for the purpose of botanical research 
and climatical experiments. Its natural beauty is further enhanced by the tropical luxuri- 
ance of Brazilian forests, the choicest specimens of native flora preserved in all their artistic 
settings, and many trees and rare plants from foreign lands. 

The chief executive of Rio de Janeiro City is the prefect, who 
holds office for four years and is appointed by the President of the 
Republic and confirmed by the senate. Under him there are seven 
boards or directorias, as follows: Public estates board, public works 
and transit, board of health and public assistance, the council of 
education, the board of forests, gardens, game and fishing, the board 
of finance, and the board of police, archives and statistics. There 
are 3,080 municipal employees, with salaries amounting to annually 



MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION IN LATIN-AMERICAN CAPITALS. 37 

$3,203,200 United States gold, an average of $1,040 each. The 
revenue of the federal capital was in 1906 48,437,185 milreis, or 
$16,177,260, while the expenditures were 48,132,715 milreis, or $16,- 
075,575, leaving a surplus of $101,685. The funded debt, inclusive 




PALACE OF THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS, RIO DE JANEIRO. 

The department of public works is closely identified with the recently undertaken improve- 
ments to the city and harbor. Rio de Janeiro, being the federal capital, is under the jurisdic- 
tion of the government authorities, and public improvements are carried on under the direct 
supervision of this department. 

of the floating debt on June 30, 1907, amounted to £7,000,677 sterling, 
or $35,003,385 United States gold. The floating debt is £1,742,076, 
or $8,710,380. 
The sources of revenue, in 1906, were : 

From state property, rents, leases and dividends $161, 405 

Public services 1, 523, 020 

From taxation : 

Merchandise exported 121, 505 

Trades, professions, and companies 1, 891, 150 

Real estate (house tax) 3,742,975 

Total from taxation 5,755,630 

Heterogeneous and eventual , 995, 785 

Total ordinary 8,445, 840 

Extraordinary, loans 7, 681, 175 

Grand total 16, 127, 015 



38 INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS. 

The expenditures for the same year were : 

Executive, prefect, etc $29, 830 

Legislature, deputies 143, 995 

Hygieue and public assistance 309, 545 

Education, schools, colleges, and universities 1, 427, 745 

Libraries, museums; etc 16, 705 

Total for education 1,444,450 

Collection and distribution of revenue 626,985 

Administration and other public services 2, 329, 180 

Public works 6, 418, 440 

Pensions 266, 975 

Eventual and heterogeneous 195, 425 

Service of the debt : 

Foreign funded, amortization and interest 59, 620 

Internal funded, amortization and interest 3, 968, 015 

Floating debt, amortization and interest 251,965 

Total service of the debt 4, 279, 600 

Grand total 16, 044, 435 

The public debt of the federal capital, in 1902, amounted to 
$878,395 raited States gold; in 1903, to $793,200; in 1904, to 
$1,170,885; in 1905, to $1,730,300; in 1906, to $2,699,245; and in 1907, 
to $2,790,610, showing an increase in six years of 31.5 per cent. 

Protection to life and property is adequately assured in the Federal 
District through a highly organized and efficient police force of more 
than 4,000 men and a civil guard of 600, which latter force is divided 
into two classes, the first having 400 men and the second 200. One 
hundred of the civil guards are held as a reserve. Besides the ordi- 
nary police, there is stationed in the federal capital a military estab- 
lishment of one brigade each of the artillery and cavalry and seven 
brigades of the infantry of the Brazilian national army. Rio de 
Janeiro is divided, for police and civil administration purposes, into 
20 urban and 8 suburban wards, each of which has its local prefect 
and other administrative agents. 

The entire police department is under the supreme supervision of a 
general staff, consisting of a commandant-general, an assistant of 
the ministry of justice, an assistant of material, an assistant of the 
personnel, a secretary, and an adjutant of orders. The department 
is divided into the following sections : 

1. Passports, licenses, and correspondence. 

2. Criminal section. 

3. Statistics. 

4. Accountantship and exchequer. 



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INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS. 



5. Medical service, with 1 director and 12 physicians* 

6. Sanitary service, having 1 inspector, 1 fiscal, 10 physicians, 4 
chemists, 1 assistant chemist, 1 surgical dentist, 1 oculist, and 7 tem- 
porary practitioners. 

7. Archives. 

8. Detention of prisoners. 

9. Cabinet of identification and statistics, which has the subdivi- 
sions of identification, statistics, information, and photography. 

10. Treasury. 

11. Harbor police. 




INSPECTION OF FIREMEN, RIO DE JANEIRO. 

The fire-fighting force consists of 600 officers and men, organized on a military basis. The corps 
and equipment are so efficient and modern, and the service so well arranged, that only twenty 
seconds are required to get the engines out of the fire halls. All repair work is done by the 
firemen in the shops which adjoin the central station. 

12. Inspectorship of the corps of investigation and public safety. 

13. Inspectorship of vehicles (composed of 1 inspector, 2 account- 
ants, and 60 assistants). 

Each administrative district of the Federal Capital has a " delegate," 
representing the commandant-general of police, besides an official 
of justice, an accountant, generally, and several " commissioners," 
varying in number according to the importance of the district. The 
entire police force of Rio de Janeiro City is organized on a strictly 
military basis, and has one regiment of cavalry and two regiments 
of infantry. 



MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION IN LATIN-AMERICAN CAPITALS. 41 

The house of detention of the federal capital is under one admin- 
istrator, assisted by a physician. 

The house of correction is administered by one director, aided by 
one assistant director. 

Rio de Janeiro in latitude 22°, 54 ' S., and longitude W. from 
Greenwich 43 °, 10 ', is about as far south of the equator as Havana, 
Cuba, is north. Its climate must generally be regarded as warmer 
than that of Havana, except on the summits of the surrounding 
mountains. There is a dry season from May to November, and a 
wet season from November to May. The mean annual temperature is 
75°, the maximum 80°, in February, and the minimum 70°, in July. 




TREASURY BUILDING, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL. 

The Caixa de Amortizacao, or Treasury Building, of the federal capital, fronts on the new 
Avenida Central, and commands especial attention because of its imposing proportions and 
attractive style of architecture. It is solidly and artistically constructed of stone. 

Climatic conditions are modified by the southwest and southeast 
trade winds from the Atlantic. Sudden changes of twenty degrees, 
in the course of a day, are not infrequent. Health conditions are 
excellent. A comparison of the annual death rate of Kio de Janeiro, 
in 1905, with that of the leading cities of the world shows that the 
Brazilian federal capital, with a mortality per thousand of 21.7, is 
about on a par with Havana, 21.2 ; Genoa, 21.5 ; Dublin, 21.2 ; Milan, 
21.1 ; and Marseilles, 21.4. The record for 1907, according to figures 
furnished by the board of health of Rio de Janeiro, proves that there 
was a marked decrease in the mortality of that city, notwithstanding 
65357— Bull. 1—09 4 



42 



INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS. 



a considerable growth in population. The mortality for 1906 and 
1907 was 13,960 and 12,106, respectively. This diminution is largely 




CENTRAL STATION OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, RIO DE JANEIRO. 

This most important institution for the protection of public and private property embraces a cen- 
tral station and six substations, one of which is located on the shore of the bay, and in addition 
to the usual equipment, is provided with two large fireboats for the protection of the harbor 
shipping. The central station is a handsome modern building, in which are maintained manu- 
facturing and repair shops for the use of the department. 

due to the admirable system of having in each urban and suburban 
district a branch of the central health department, where free medi- 



MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION IN LATIN-AMERICAN CAPITALS. 43 

cal assistance and advice are given to the poor, and whenever neces- 
sary skilled physicians and nurses visit them in their homes. The 
capital is, moreover, now exempt from yellow fever, a result which 
has been achieved by the distinguished Brazilian physician, Doctor 
Cruz, whose energetic efforts have exterminated that former scourge 
of Rio de Janeiro. 

The local census, taken September 20, 1906, showed that the federal 
district had on that date 811,443 inhabitants, 463,453 males and 
347,990 females, living. The population has increased since 1890 by 
288,792 souls — that is, by 55.26 per cent. The annual increase was 
3.515 per cent. Rio de Janeiro thus compares very favorably with 




RUA DA CARIOCA, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL. 
This typical business street of the metropolis of the Republic is important in retail trade. 

Chicago, Pittsburg, Buffalo, and Cleveland. The annual birth rate 
in 1906 was 209.5 per 1,000. The area of the federal district is 538 
square miles, and had, in 1906, a density of 1,338 inhabitants per 
square mile. Its area is nearly one and one-half times larger than 
that of New York, approximately twice as large as that of Chicago, 
virtually three and one-half times as much as that of Philadelphia, 
almost four times as large as that of London, and nearly eight times 
larger than that of the District of Columbia. 

Although education has not as yet been made compulsory in Brazil, 
both the National Government as well as the municipality are pro- 
moting in every possible way universal instruction and self-improve- 



44 



INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS. 



ment among the inhabitants of the federal capital. Public as well as 
private instruction is conducted under the supervision of a " General 
directory of public instruction," and a " Superior counsel of instruc- 
tion." The former organization is under a director-general. 

Public instruction is divided into primary, corresponding to the 
primary and grammar grades of the United States, superior (high 
school and academic), and university. Under the first-named de- 
partment it is interesting to note that there were 186 " primary public 
schools " in Rio de Janeiro City in 1907, of which 131 were for girls, 
49 for boys, and 3 mixed. Seventy-two teachers, and 200 assistant 
teachers were employed in the primary department. The instruction 




GONQALVES DIAS SCHOOL, RIO DE JANEIRO. 

This handsome school edifice in Rio is surrounded by a beautiful garden filled with tropical plants, 
and trees. It faces Christovao Park, and is one of the most solidly constructed school buildings 
of the capital. 

given was purely secular and comprised reading, writing, arithmetic,. 
Portuguese grammar, geography, history, and general moral, scien- 
tific, and civic principles, drawing, calisthenics, and sewing, divided 
into three courses, elementary, intermediate, and higher. The pri- 
mary schools are supplemented by what are known as " elementary 
schools," which are private institutions. They receive a subvention 
from the municipality on condition that they shall adopt the official 
programme and admit a certain number of children free. There are 
at present 79 schools of this sort, with 5,136 pupils and an average 
attendance of 2,370. The teachers are either normal-school graduates 
or have passed a special government examination. 



MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION IN LATIN-AMERICAN CAPITALS. 45 

Ajnong the public institutions for superior instruction, should be 
mentioned the Instituto Professional for Males, which is limited to 
300 pupils. Students enter at the age of 12 and leave at 20. The 
subjects taught are : Primary courses, music and drawing, carpentry, 
cabinetmaking, sculpture, typesetting, bookbinding, tailoring, iron 
and tinsmith's work, and bootmaking. In the Female Instituto 
the number of pupils is limited to 120 and applicants are admitted 
up to 15 years of age. Instruction is given in the primary courses, 
elements of hygiene, shorthand, typewriting, domestic economy, draw- 
ing, music, sewing, embroidery, and artificial-flower making. 

The federal capital maintains five " model schools " in which certifi- 
cated teachers, intending to become professors, are trained as assistants. 
The normal school, or " pedagogium," has a curriculum of four series : 
(1) Portuguese, French, arithmetic, geography, music, manual train- 
ing, needlework, handwriting, and calisthenics; (2) Portuguese, 
French, algebra, geometry, geography, history, linear drawing, music, 
and needlework; (3) Portuguese, French, American history, physics, 
pedagogy, manual training, and ornamental designing; (4) Brazilian 
literature, chemistry, history of Brazil, and civic instruction, pedagogy, 
hygiene, and drawing from the model. The school is under the direct 
superintendence of the council of education. From 1900 to 1904, 320 
students received certificates as normal teachers. All such certificated 
teachers must practice under certificated professors for one year and 
obtain certificates of competence as professors. The pedagogium is 
also intended to serve as a school for higher education of primary 
professors. Classes are held at night and comprise " permanent 
courses " of physical and natural sciences, " contracted courses " on 
letters, biology, and pedagogy, and " free courses " on mathematics, 
philology, sociology, technical industries, arts, etc. In 1902 seven 
courses were given; the number of students was 153. In 1903 ten 
courses, with 143 students, were given, and in 1904, 17 courses with 
194 students. 

There is in Rio de Janeiro city no university, properly so called, but 
there are in Brazil six faculties which confer degrees, of which two — 
the Faculty of Medicine and the Polytechnic School — are located in 
the capital. The cost of university education is provided — by an 
annual grant that for the last ten years has ranged from 2,600,000 
milreis to 3,400,000 milreis ($866,667 to $1,133,334 United States 
gold). 

The Polytechnic School was founded December 4, 1810. It 
grants certificates of civil, mining, industrial, and mechanical engi- 
neer, and the title of agronomist and geographical engineer. This 
school ranks in every respect among the best of technical institu- 
tions in the world and offers six distinct courses, namely, a " funda- 



46 



INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS. 



mental course" (three years), a course of civil engineering (two 
years) , a course of mining engineering (two years) , a course of indus- 
trial engineering (two years), a course of mechanical engineering 




COMMERCIAL AND OFFICE BUILDINGS, AVENIDA CENTRAL, RIO DE JANERIO. 

This famous avenue was laid out and many of the old buildings demolished and reconstructed 
within a remarkably short period of time, presenting an example of activity and progress in 
city building unequaled in the world. Some of the edifices cover an entire square and repre- 
sent an expenditure of sums from half a million to five millions of dollars. 

(two years), and a course of agricultural engineering (two years), 
There are 52 professors among the faculty of the school. 



MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION IN LATIN-AMERICAN CAPITALS. 47 

The total number of professors at the different municipal schools 
of the federal district is 875, as follows : There are 6 directors of 
model schools, 193 head masters, 300 permanent professors, 7 of the 
elementary first class, and 72 of the elementary second class; total, 
778. The normal school (Pedagogium) has 45 professors and assist- 
ants. Technical education has 52 professors. 

Private initiative and philanthrop}^ (both on the part of the native 
Brazilians, as well as of the foreign residents) have ably cooperated 
with the public authorities in increasing the opportunities for uni- 
versal education by establishing and maintaining throughout the 
federal capital a great variety of primary schools, academies, col- 
leges, and other institutions of instruction, which are of the high- 
est excellence. 

The National Government of Brazil maintains in the federal 
capital the following educational institutions: Deaf and dumb and 
blind asylums, the National School of Music, the National School 
of Art, the Military Academy, the Preparatory School of Tactics, 
and the Naval School. 

The National School of Art was founded in 1816. A fine new 
building is now in course of erection in the Central avenue. The 
National School of Music was founded in 1847. The staff consists 
of 19 professors and 13 assistants. The Military College was 
founded in 1889. Children and grandchildren of army officers and 
of privates killed in action are educated at public expense ; civilians 
are admitted on payment. From this college students pass to the 
higher military or naval school, but it is not obligatory. 

The School for the Blind, called the " Instituto Benjamin Con- 
stant," was founded in 1857. The land on which the building stands 
covers 9,516 square meters, or 102,373 square feet, on the shores of 
the beautiful bay of Botafogo, and was a gift from the Emperor 
Dom Pedro II. The Deaf and Dumb School was founded in 1856. 
There are about 600 children who receive oral instruction in this 
institution. 

The city of Rio de Janeiro is well provided with libraries, of which 
there are 12. Two of these, the National and the Municipal, and the 
rest belong to associations or to the Brazilian army and navy. The 
National Library Building, now in course of construction, will be 
the most magnificent in South America. The origin of this library 
was due to the flight of King Joio VI, of Portugal, to Brazil, in 
1807. It contained, in 1907, 130,000 volumes, a valuable collection of 
25,150 medals, many of them very rare, and 100,000 engravings. The 
average monthly attendance of readers is 3,300. 

The " Gabinete Portuguez de Leitura " is the most beautiful build- 
ing in Rio de Janeiro. The library comprises 7,000 volumes, ad- 



MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION IN LATIN-AMERICAN CAPITALS. 49 

mirably arranged. The collection of camoenana (Camoes) is believed 
to be the most perfect in existence. 

The hospitals and asylums of the Federal District are undertaken 
chiefly by private associations assisted by the Government. Among 
the most important of these institutions are the following: Ma- 
ternidade, or lying-in hospital, which is a private association as- 
sisted by the National Government. The Institute for the Protection 
and Assistance of Children. The society, besides giving medical 
advice and aid to poor children, is of inestimable benefit to women 
who are about to become mothers. 

The Hospital da Misericordia, of Spanish origin, was founded by 
the Jesuit priest Father Anchieta in the sixteenth century. Its 
modern reorganization was in 1840. Thirty years were required to 
complete the edifice. It can take care of 1,200 patients, and is de- 
signed especially for the accommodation of sick sailors of all nations. 
The hospital is divided into four departments: The Asylum of 
Misericordia for Abandoned Girls; the Asylum of Santa Maria for 
Old Women ; the Hospital of Nossa Senhora dos Dolores at Casadura, 
for Consumption, and the Pasteur Institute for the Treatment of 
Hydrophobia. 

The Casa de Sao Jose for male orphan or neglected children of 6 to 
12 years of age is accomplishing excellent work. There is a similar 
asylum for female children. Both institutions are maintained by 
the municipality. The Fifteenth of November Reformatory for Va- 
grant Children is an institution of the National Government, and is 
under the supervision of the police. The Goncalves Araujo Asylum 
is conducted and supported by the Candelaria Brotherhood. 

Among the most interesting of other philanthropical associations 
are the 181 registered " friendly societies," whose accumulated funds in 
1902 amounted to $3,550,235, and they had an aggregate income of 
$391,515. They distributed, in 1902, $30,915 among associates, and 
since the founding of the earliest of these associations, a Swiss society, 
in 1821, have distributed $3,398,635. The 181 societies, in 1902, had a 
total of 93,851 associates. 

The government of the Federal District maintains a strict super- 
vision over factories and stores. Under the present law the majority 
of shops close at 8 o'clock on ordinary nights and at 4 on holidays. 
Only cafes, bars, and restaurants are open all day on Sundays, and 
grocers and tobacconists up to 12 (noon). Other places of business 
are required to be closed. 

Lighting, rapid transit, and motive power are exclusively furnished 
in the Federal District by the Rio de Janeiro Tramway, Light and 
Power Company, operating under a concession from the municipality, 
and registered in Toronto, Canada. The company possesses a tre- 



50 INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS. 

mendous natural source of power on the River Das Lages, 51 miles 
distant from the city of Rio de Janeiro. It has installed at this point 
one of the most extensive and modern hydraulic-electric generating 
systems in the world. The company is the owner of the share capital 
of the Companhias Sao Christovao, Carris Urbanos and Villa Isabel, 
which provides about three-fourths of the tramway service of Rio de 
Janeiro. The various concessions granted by the federal capital were 
consolidated and extended until 1970, by virtue of a contract made 
with the municipality, in November, 1907, the Rio de Janeiro Tram- 
way, Light and Power Company to install electric lighting and power 




THE PALACE OF THE PRESIDENT, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL. 

throughout the capital within a period of about three years, and to 
construct about 200 miles of new lines. The lines of the Villa Isabel 
are already electrified, and the work of transforming the traction of 
the other companies is commenced. 

The Societe Anonyme de Gaz de Rio de Janeiro, a Belgian enter- 
prise, was acquired by the company, which now controls the whole 
of the illumination of the capital by gas and electricity, through 
a concession granted by the Government in 1905 with a monopoly 
until 1915. All parts of the city are now illuminated by gas, the 
electric lighting being confined for the present to the new avenues 
recently opened and the central commercial section. Electric light- 



MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION IN LATIN-AMEKICAN CAPITALS. 51 

ing is to be greatly extended during the present year. The Rio de 
Janeiro Tramway, Light and Power Company (by a concession 
from the municipality) enjoys a monopoly for the distribution of 
electric power, produced in a hydraulic installation until 1915, and 
thereafter the right continues without monopoly until 1990. There 
is now furnished 3,000 horsepower, but this will soon be greatly 
increased. Concessions recently acquired by the company give it 
full control of the telephones throughout the Federal District. The 
entire system has been largely reconstructed with a new building, 
having a new central telephone board of the most modern design. 
Improved instruments have been given to the 2,500 subscribers, 
whose number will soon be increased to 5,000. Street circuits have 
been rebuilt and a large amount of aerial cables has been installed 
to take the place of the network of overhead wires in the streets, 
thus greatly improving the service. A large part of the system is 
in underground cables, and it is expected that this will be extended 
from year to year until all overhead wires in the populous districts 
have been removed. 




